Brass Tacks

KEO – Brand Strategy, Design & Digital | Logos, Websites, Marketing
KEO has worked alongside AMPS for more than 14 years, initially supporting digital and brand execution.
As the organisation matured, so did the perception challenge. Despite its strong community presence and open structure, AMPS was sometimes viewed as a tight-knit, member-focused organisation that could appear difficult for outsiders to fully understand.
The opportunity was not to change who AMPS was. It was to clarify how it communicated its purpose, openness and contribution to the broader agricultural community. This was a brand positioning challenge for a regional agribusiness with significant legacy equity.

Substance without consistent expression
Through strategic workshops and long-term collaboration, we revisited the foundations of AMPS.
What became clear was that the business model, commercial activity supporting independent research, was powerful but not consistently articulated.
The perception gap was subtle:
The challenge was not exclusivity. It was articulation.
AMPS had grown organically over decades. Messaging had evolved naturally. The brand simply needed structure to ensure its purpose and impact were clearly understood by members, customers and the wider community.





A unifying platform grounded in place
Rather than changing direction, we clarified it.
We developed a brand platform that reflected both agricultural growth and regional commitment:
We’re growing here.
This positioning worked on multiple levels:
From this core statement, a flexible messaging system emerged:
This allowed AMPS to communicate consistently across research, retail, recruitment and community initiatives.
We refined the visual identity to modernise without abandoning heritage. The leaf device became a distinctive, scalable brand element applied across vehicles, signage, digital platforms and print.
The result was clarity without loss of history.



From dependency to capability
Over time, the partnership evolved.
AMPS moved from asking KEO to execute, to wanting the tools to lead internally.
Together we developed:
The brand platform was applied consistently across:
The aim was long-term sustainability. The brand system had to work without constant external intervention.




Clarity, cohesion and sustained confidence
Today, AMPS operates approximately 19,000 trial plots across 70 sites in regional NSW. Over the past decade, net assets per share and EBIT have grown significantly.
KEO does not claim responsibility for commercial performance. AMPS’ leadership, research commitment and operational discipline drive that success.
What the brand strategy delivered was clarity:
This project demonstrates the role of strategic branding in agribusiness. When research, retail and regional identity are brought together under one coherent narrative, perception strengthens and confidence follows.
For KEO, AMPS represents a long-term brand partnership built on mutual trust and shared commitment to regional growth.






